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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis

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Helen Nguyen Christopher Gilchrist ENG1102 07 April 2024 “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Analysis In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" The author uses a range of literary devices to reveal the dangers of gender norms, societal pressures, and power dynamics in society. The story goes through a fifteen-year-old girl's journey of self-discovery. Interrupted by a mysterious stranger named Arnold Friend, the story dives into the complexities of Connie's world and the transformative impact of her encounter. Through careful characterization and symbolic imagery, Oates invites readers to navigate the depths of Connie and Arnold's relationship, offering insights into the underlying societal expectations and power …show more content…

Through these interactions, Oates illustrates how societal norms shape women's perceptions of themselves and their roles within society, ultimately influencing their interactions with men like Arnold. Oates shows how Connie and Arnold's interactions reflect the influence of society, highlighting how cultural values shape their behavior and relationships. Connie's obsession with physical appearance, a trait ingrained in her by societal expectations, is evident throughout the story. Connie’s characterization “stems from a rigid belief in physical beauty” as she’s characterized as a teenager who is looking to look her best and impress everyone around her (Korb). This fixation on appearance is echoed in Connie's thoughts as “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” (Oates 1016). This emphasis on external beauty not only defines Connie's self-worth but also influences her judgments of others. Oates employs symbolism to further emphasize Connie's reliance on physical appearance as a criterion for

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"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a short story filled with ideas of vanity and judgment through references of music and the Bible. The main character, Connie, is a vain teenage girl in the 1960s who spends her days exploiting her beauty to fulfill her personal desires. Joyce Carol Oates uses the symbols of Arnold Friend, music, and the deceit of appearances to develop the allegory of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Oates uses several symbols through her characters, such as Arnold Friend, to create a religious allegory about the temptation of the devil.

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Connie had a side hidden away from her family. When home she had a “childlike and bobbing walk”( Oates 1) but away from home her walk was “languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head”. The moral standards and self interpretation of Oates character Connie stems from how her parents treat

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Oates’s story teaches an extremely important lesson to young girls. This story can teach people not to be so secretive, and also to be weary of anybody that you do not know well, no matter how friendly they seem at first. These lessons are taught mostly through the way antagonist of the story, Arnold Friend, is written by the author. Arnold is a creepy, manipulative, and demanding man, but he pretends as if he is not. The author used his name, speech, appearance, and actions to show that a person is not always what they appear to

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Connie has two different and distinct sides to her, "one for home and one for anywhere that was not home" (126). She is aware of the duality and deliberately behaves in one capacity while at home and in another when away from home. At home Connie is still a child, but when away from home Connie believes herself more mature. When Connie is home, she acts with some restraint by hiding and putting aside her more sexual self. Her mother disapproves of this side and describes Connie as having her mind "filled with trashy daydreams" (126).

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Connie is insecure and hyper-aware of herself and how others perceive her. Considering the fact that Connie is unhappy about aspects of herself, she judges other people to make herself feel better. According to Oates, “They would lean together to whisper and laugh secretly if someone passed who amused or interested them.” (Oates 1). This passage reveals Connie’s judgemental nature.

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The beginning of the story illustrates Connie as a shallow and vapid young teen, placing an immense amount of value on her looks and ability to attract the attention of those around her. Near the end of the story, during her encounter with Arnold Friend and his companion, Ellie Oscar, the author expresses Connie’s nervousness by describing that, “her heart was almost too big now for her chest and its pumping made sweat break out all over her” (Oates). Connie is no longer comfortable with the attention and realizes that the looks that she once valued so greatly, likely brought danger to both herself and those around her. The dichotomy between Connie in the beginning of the short story and Connie near the end of the story is subtly foreshadowed when it mentions that, “ everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates). By the end of the short story, the audience is able to identify the two new sides of Connie.

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In her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates gives the internal events of her short story the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. This is accomplished by providing the thoughts of Connie to the reader; showing the effects of the setting on Connie; and Connie’s final realization of her fate. She connects this to the idea that Arnold Friend is the demonic adversary who convinces Connie to cross the threshold into adulthood and lose her innocence by shear persuasion and threatening undertones.

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First, Oates uses symbols. One symbol is jealousy. Connie’s mom seems to be a little jealous of how pretty Connie is. She is always trying to compare Connie to her not so pretty sister. She says things like, why Connie don’t clean her room like June and other things to try and make Connie feel bad about herself.

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Oates’s biography explained her fiction writing as a mixture violence and sexual obsession. The writing style definitely fits the plot point of this story with both of her literary ingredients being present in not only Arnold Friend but in Connie as well. The Protagonist Connie is presented in a very self-centered way. She is obsessed with her looks and often fantasizes about all the boys she meets.

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Connie was often criticized by her mother who told her to “stop gawking at [her]self” (Oates,1) This criticism towards one’s own daughter demonstrates that Connie and her mother do not have a healthy relationship. Her mother always talks of Connie’s sister, June, whom Connie is tired of “hear[ing] praised all the time” (Oates, 1). Connie’s thoughts of June portray Connie’s jealousy towards her and her mother’s praise and acceptance. Connie’s jealousy may cause inner conflict that would subsequently result in a desire to be free of such feelings and that “it [is] all over” (Oates, 1) This is significant because for a long time storytelling has been one way of “sharing one’s feelings in an infinite number of ways… [which] makes storytelling the most influential and important tradition to society today”

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She managed to grasp attention; but is this the kind of attention she wanted? Maybe she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this essay, I am going to explain why Connie looking for attention in all the wrong places landed her in such a sticky situation. There’s no doubt that Connie is a very beautiful individual, although it is unseen it is well defined by Oates in her short story. Connie is self-engulfed and loves the way she looks.

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Again, the reader sees traditional values placed against changing times, reinforcing Connie’s internal struggle to define

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“But now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.” (Oates ). Also, there is another opportunity for friendship within the family, between Connie and her sister, however, that is lost in their rivalry and hostility. “Her sister was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time – by her mother and her mother's sisters.” ( ).

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441 Words | 2 Pages

In this story, Oates describes Connie character as a pretty young girl with “long dark blond hair that drew anyone’s eye to it.” (86) Because Connie led two different lives, she would dress and look different at home, then she would with

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The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted in a multitude of ways due to its ambiguity. A psychological lens, however, provides the most accurate viewpoint for analyzing the story as it clarifies certain obscure scenes and actions of Connie. One psychological issue of Connie that is easily inferred from the beginning of the story is her insecurity about her looks. Connie constantly worries about the way that she looks and takes any opportunity to do so, “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (1).

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